Millions of visitors of Europeana, the largest European digital platform for cultural heritage, will now be able to learn about Georgian costumes worn by the country’s historical nobility as well as those used in classic film and theatre productions.
Over 30 exhibits from Tbilisi-based Art Palace museum have been uploaded to the online database’s fashion section, after the Georgian venue collaborated with organisers of the platform to have their collections showcased.
The range of Georgian attires, gowns and robes is displayed in the section that also presents entries such as the legacy of Paris fashion houses, famed designers including Yves Saint Laurent, and exhibits demonstrating various techniques of garment creation.
Examples from the Art Palace collection include a 1948 dress worn by an actor in Keto and Kote, a film staged based on the celebrated 1919 Georgian opera of the same name.
Art Palace director Giorgi Kalandia told Rustavi 2 TV the dress had been donated to the museum years ago in severely damaged condition. It was later repaired by professionals at the venue and is on both physical and digital display.
Other items include a ceremonial robe worn by Georgia’s 12th century Queen Tamar — created based on an 18th century fresco by celebrated theatre designer Simon Virsaladze — and a traditional woman’s dress from the highland Mtiuleti province.
The costumes are now part of over 50 million digitised items including garments, artwork and books the Europe-wide platform has accepted on its website since its launch in 2008. About 3,000 cultural institutions from across Europe have exhibits on Europeana.
Art Palace launched talks for exhibiting the museum’s collections on the website last year, as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
The joining of the Europeana directory comes as part of an initiative bringing the museum’s stories on exhibits and personalities of Georgian art to online space, first launched on Google Arts & Culture — another international digital platform for cultural heritage.
Art Palace’s collections on the latter include displays for painter, art researcher and technological pioneer David Kakabadze, contemporary artist Tamara Kvesitadze and theatre designer Petre Otskheli.
The Tbilisi venue said more exhibits from its vaults are set to be prepared to be displayed on Europeana as its collaboration with the platform evolves.
Source: Agenda.ge, photo: Agenda.ge